the food bag

when i'm working, i pack a food bag.  this prevents me from eating airport and bar food on a regular basis.  it also saves quite a bit of money in the long run.  there are pros and cons to packing a food bag. 

pros:

• you know what you're eating
• saves money
• healthier
• always have a small snack available to you 

cons:

• preparing everything can be tedious
• tend to pack the same things each trip
• you've packed something that doesn't sound good to you three days later
• you have to keep cold food on ice constantly

in the long run, the pros always outweigh the cons.  so i continue to pack food to take with me on all of my trips.  so, since i mentioned that i tend to pack the same things in my food bag, here is a variety of what might be found in my food bag.

• cottage cheese
• hard-boiled eggs
• turkey sausage
• babybel cheese
• celery
• grapes
• strawberries
• apple slices
• turkey/cheese roll-ups
• leftover meals
• pretzel thins
• rice cakes
• granola bars
• peanut butter cups

pretty healthy for the most part, huh?  i really do try to be healthy on my trips.  i find myself eating better on the road than at home.  i'd be fooling myself if i said that i never eat food from the airport or from hotel restaurants.  it's nice to have a hot meal that didn't come from a ziplock bag!

so how do i prepare the hot foods?  it's actually quite simple.  the turkey sausage (and occasionally chicken breasts and turkey burger patties) are warmed up by placing the meat, wrapped in foil, on the hot plate of the coffee maker.  flip it a few times and it warms up nicely!  my leftover meals are put into a ziplock bag then stuffed into the coffee pot where i brew hot water over the bag a couple times.  those flight attendants are quite crafty! 

any other food suggestions to help me mix it up in the future?